Newton boys comeback falls short

Monday

Dec 3, 2012 at 10:59 PMDec 3, 2012 at 10:59 PM

By Mark Schnabel Newton Kansan

HAYS — The Newton High School boys’ basketball team waited too long to get its offense going, falling to DeSoto 60-52 Saturday in the third-place game of the Hays City Shootout. “We did not play with a lot of energy in the first half, and this is a team that has to play with great energy all the time,” Newton coach Don Cameron said. “We don’t have a lot of size, so it’s not a matter of needing to block out, we have to. We gave up three or four inches a player. We did last night as well. We will most games. That’s part of that energy, finding someone and blocking off. We were real tentative in the first half. We have to attack the basket, pass and shoot. We have kids who can shoot the ball.” DeSoto, 2-1, was led by Ryan Stallbaumer with 15 points. Quinton Verhulst and Isaac Leuth each added 12 points. Dalton Verhulst scored 10 points. For Newton, Grant Walker scored 15 points, hitting four 3-point shots. Austin Krogmeier added 12 points. Newton was outscored 23-7 from the free throw line. There were seven lead changes early in the game. The seventh was a 5-0 DeSoto run to put the Wildcats up 11-7 at the end of the quarter. Newton was two of 11 shooting in the first period. Newton was outscored 7-1 in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second quarter. Jack Kingsley broke the run with a three-point play. Newton struggled with shooting and turnovers the rest of the half, trailing 30-13. DeSoto finished the half 11 of 21 from the field. Newton was four of 19. DeSoto opened the third quarter with a basket. Grant Walker followed with back-to-back treys, just missing a third that would have cut the DeSoto lead to 10. DeSoto got back up by 16. A Lane Pauls trey cut it to 13 at the end of the quarter, 38-25. A Gunnar Drinnen layup off a DeSoto turnover got the Railers within 10 with five minutes remaining in regulation. Newton drew within nine on a Krogmeier layup with 3:57 to play. Stallbaumer answered with a three-point play and the ball back on an intentional foul. Newton rallied again to draw within eight on a pair of Walker free throws with inside two minutes to play. The Railers missed a chance to draw closer and DeSoto put the game away from the line. Walker hit two treys in the final 10 seconds of the game for the Railers to win the second half. Newton hosts Salina Central at 7:30 p.m. Friday. “It will be the same thing for us,” Cameron said. “We will have to play with good energy. They have good athletes. We get some time to work on some things.”DeSOTO (2-1) — Turner 0 0-0 3, 0; Stenzel 2 0-0 2, 4; Carroll 3 2-3 2, 8; D.Verhulst 2 (1) 3-4 1, 10; Stallbaumer 4 7-7 3, 15; Q.Verhulst 1 (1) 7-8 2, 12; Lueth 4 4-6 2, 12; TOTALS 16 (2) 23-28 14, 61. NEWTON (1-2) — Krogmeier 4 4-7 4, 12; Wright 0 0-0 5, 0; Morrison 1 1-2 1, 3; Drinnen 1 (1) 0-0 3, 5; Walker 0 (4) 3-4 3, 15; Carlgren 2 0-0 3, 4; J.Kingsley 1 (1) 1-1 3, 6; Downey 0 0-0 1, 0; Pauls 0 (1) 0-0 0, 3; Lehman 2 0-0 0, 4; TOTALS 11 (7) 9-14 23, 52. DeSoto 11 19 8 23 —60 Newton 7 6 12 27 —52

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